1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data processing apparatus, an information system having a data processing server and a storage server, a control method for the same, and a storage medium storing a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various application programs have been run on information processing apparatuses such as PCs. Information processing apparatuses have a mechanism called an “environment variable” that can define a value that is used by multiple applications in common in order to be able to effectively configure settings for the applications. With this mechanism, first a variable and a value for replacement if that variable is designated are registered in a PC. Next, the variable is designated at the place where the variable is to be used in applications (e.g., a settings file). According to this mechanism, the PC can detect the variable designated by the applications at the time of execution, and replace that variable with the designated variable.
Accordingly, by defining a value to be used as an environment variable in application programs, the applications do not need to individually hold the value. This enables realizing a reduction in maintenance, cost, and the like for changing values.
A system such as the following is a specific example that employs this technology. The system includes an information processing apparatus, a data processing server, and a storage server, and first an instruction regarding a job in the data processing server is selected from the information processing apparatus and executed. Scanned data is then registered in the storage server by the information processing apparatus based on the instruction. For example, in the case of a folder that is created once each date in the storage server, by defining a date environment variable in the instruction, that environment variable is replaced with current date data at the time of execution, and data can be registered in the corresponding date folder in the storage server. In this way, an environment variable can also designate a combination of a variable and a fixed value, or a variable and a value that can be acquired from a PC.
Recently, among multi function processing apparatuses (MFPs) that include a scanner and a printer, there are MFPs that include environment variables such as those described above. Several environment variables can be defined in the MFP and used in applications that run on the MFP. For example, according to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2009-187098, an environment variable is defined in an MFP, a settings file is provided for each user who is logged in to the MFP, and processing for using the settings files to replace the defined variables with values is performed.
With the above-described system, there are issues such as the following when using an environment variable with the method of Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2009-187098. One specific case is the case where a data processing server and a storage server are installed separately in Japanese and America. If an environment variable for acquiring date information is registered and used in the data processing server in Japan, there will be a time difference with the storage server in America. For this reason, it is not possible for acquired date information to be used in the registration of data in a date folder in the storage server in America. The reason for this is that when it is April 18 in Japan time, it is April 17 in America due to the time difference, and with a system in which date folders are created automatically, the folder for April 18 will not have been created yet in America, and it is naturally impossible for data to be saved in that folder.
In other words, when an environment variable is registered using the above-described technology of Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2009-187098, only a fixed variable that a user has arbitrarily designated or a system-specific value (e.g., date information that can be acquired from a PC) can be registered. For this reason, it is not possible to dynamically acquire a value from the resource of another system and use it according to the purpose of the use of the environment variable.